Nominative and accusative cases are important in several languages like German, Latin, and French. In English, there are a few cases as well, but they aren’t as significant. Most examples in the English language can be seen in the use of pronouns. People often get confused between nominative and accusative cases. In fact, the use of these cases is much more pronounced in the German language, where they aren’t just confined to pronouns. This article aims to highlight the differences between nominative and accusative cases.
It is easy to see the use of cases in English with the help of the pronoun he, which becomes him. For example, the case is he as in “he plays,” but it becomes him when you ask him or give him something. However, when a student learns a language like German, they encounter the problem of cases in not just pronouns but also in nouns, articles, adjectives, and so on. In English, there are very few cases remaining, with examples of nominative being he, she, it, they, etc. Examples of accusative cases in English are him, her, them, us, me, etc.
## Nominative
The nominative case is always used for the subject in a sentence, which is a word that tells us who does what according to the verb of the sentence. Thus, the verb’s subject is always in the nominative case.
## Accusative
The accusative case is always used for the verb’s object, which is the word that takes or receives the action of the verb. Thus, ‘me’ becomes the accusative case of the pronoun I when it receives the action. It is simple to remember for a student of English, and hence there is no emphasis on making students learn about cases.
## Key Takeaways
– The nominative case of the pronoun is used for the subject of the verb, whereas the accusative case of the pronoun is used for the direct object or the receiving word of the verb.
– This explanation is too simplistic and based upon the impact of cases only on pronouns in the English language. These cases become more important in other languages like Latin and German, where they aren’t restricted just to pronouns but also to nouns, adjectives, and articles.
– Examples of nominative cases in English are he, she, it, they, etc., while examples of accusative cases are him, her, them, us, me, etc.
